The Benefits of Writing in English (as a Non-Native Speaker)

To write in English as a non-native speaker might seem scary at first. Many blog posts I read are written by non-native English speakers. Sometimes I can easily tell and sometimes it's harder. It's fine though because writing content for a blog is not about perfect grammar or fancy sentences, it's about your audience understanding what you mean.

As a non-native English speaker, I'll be the first to admit it, my English is far from perfect. I speak with an accent and my grammar could use some work. But it doesn't matter, because the people I communicate with understand me.

Advantages of Being a Non-native English Speaker

Because it's not our native language we have to spend more time analyzing the language, grammar, and spelling than a native speaker. This is natural and not specific to English. That type of attention to detail will make you appreciate the different ways that language can be used even more.

Why You Should Write in English (As a Non-native Speaker)

You Improve

Quite obvious, eh?

Honestly, it doesn't matter what type of content you write as long as you keep doing it. You could maintain an English diary or write your grocery shopping list in English. Practice makes perfect and that applies to this too.

At work, 100% of my communication is in English, both verbal and written, and mostly it's about technical topics. I've noticed I have a harder time talking about non-technical matters in English, so it's good to practice different subjects. Small talk for example, like how can I make small talk about programming? Yeah, I've tried and it was not pretty 😂

In my opinion, people striving for perfect grammar are wasting their time. And more, people who are correcting other people's incorrect grammar are even worse (ha!). Don't let these people discourage you. It all boils down to understanding. If I comprehend you, then you have succeeded, and we can move on.

Improving your language skills can lead to many new opportunities in life, such as a career abroad, or new relationships. If you don't want to move you can do remote work. Here you can read about my experience with remote work: 4 Lessons Learned Working Remotely for +2 Years

You Encourage Others

Impostor Syndrome, have you heard about it? It's when you feel like a fraud (imposter) and you're afraid to be exposed as such. This psychological condition is not unique to writing and happens to people in all industries. I've felt it and I think a lot of you have experienced it too.

By creating content with imperfect grammar you're reducing this stigma of "I need to have perfect English to produce content", which in turn will help others see that it's ok to do so.

Conclusion

Just do it! Write in English (or any other language) as a non-native speaker! Write what's on your mind. It might suck, or it might be the best you've ever written. Anyway, you will learn and the next thing you write will be better. You have nothing to lose!

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